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Update on Standards and CSS in IE7

brajesh writes "Chris Wilson has posted on IEBlog about the Standards and CSS in IE7. According to the post, "In IE7, we will fix as many of the worst bugs that web developers hit as we can, and we will add the critical most-requested features from the standards as well. Though you won't see (most of) these until Beta 2". Further,"we will not pass this (Acid2 browse) test when IE7 ships.""

18 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. This is good for all the browsers by edyu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Although there will be Microsoft bashing in this thread, I believe this is good for all browsers because almost all the other browsers are standards compliant. Therefore, as IE becomes more standard compliant, the common denominator between the browsers will be bigger thus more web pages will be displayed correctly in all the other browers. I appauld Microsoft for this effort although it might be a result of necessity rather than goodwill. ;)

    1. Re:This is good for all the browsers by Nasarius · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I have a nasty suspicion that after IE 7.0, they won't stop or slow down, but will speed up. It's what MS does: crush the opponent.

      I don't know. I'm truly surprised at how little has been done with Longhorn/Vista. There's a shiny new interface, a slightly improved version of IE, and some neat developer technologies. Oh, and desktop search. This has taken them 4-5 years? If they plan to crush the competition, they're going to have to pick up the pace quite a bit.

      --
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    2. Re:This is good for all the browsers by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Brings resolution-independence to the GUI with vector-based controls and icons, plus resampling for legacy applications.

      Brings 3D acceleration into the GUI, making it easy to use 3D in desktop applications without having to use OpenGL or Direct3D.

      Updated kernel, memory manager, etc.

      Reduced user permissions (ala Mac OS X or Linux) to increase security.

      New network stack.

      New printing system with commom document format.

      New power management features.

      Desktop search.

      Vritual folders (e.g. "Music" can organize all music on your computer by artist).

      New shell UI (Explorer).

      New command shell (MSH).

      Completely new install system.

      Faster bootup, shutdown, standby, and resume.

      Support for external LCD displays on notebooks.

      New features for eHome (Media Center) and Tablet PC.

      New networking paridigm ("Castle") replaces the outdated "Workgroup" (WINS).

      New graphics driver model (LDM) that will serve as the basis for the desktop and the next version of DirectX.

      New DRM technologies (ugh) - 'secure' graphics path and 'secure' audio path.

      Parental controls for DVDs, games, and potentially TV (eHome) built-in.

      Antispyware built-in.

      New update mechanism that allows in-memory patching of libraries without requiring a reload or restart.

      New Windows Update and automatic update mechanism.

      New protection against security exploits through extensive security audits and code-quality tests.

      Fewer bugs and crashes through increased regression testing, improved error reporting, and tighter code requirements.

      No, Vista isn't going to be Mac OS X. Too many people expect Microsoft to go and duplicate everything that Apple has done. They expect Vista to be the "non-Windows Windows".

      That's not going to happen. Vista is still very much the Windows you know. But it is the most significant change since Windows 2000. It will be better in ways that aren't apparent by looking at screenshots - a better network stack, easier patching, and improved security aren't necessarily the kinds of things that are apparent from the UI. But they matter to the user. And they matter to Microsoft.

      Expect Vista to deliver in a big way. Not through "150 new features" like every release of Mac OS X, but through a general improvement in security, stability, and performance. And, of course, a much improved platform for developers.

  2. Microsoft doesn't care about standards by chia_monkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why? Because they ARE the standard and they know it. In a perfect world, they would conform to the standards that everyone else is striving to hit. But MS knows they own the market. They know that there are a bazillion web pages written specifically for IE. They know there are lazy coders out there that don't bother checking for web standard conformity and only care that their pages work on IE. So why should they rethink their IE development? It's much easier this way (for them). It's a shame, and maybe some day it'll kick 'em in the ass, but for now, they know they're in the driver's seat.

    --

    "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
  3. Re:just give up by jav1231 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Simple. M$ isn't going to concede that they can't keep up; not even to technologies they don't even have yet. They will buy technology, mimick it, or simply continue to bastardize. The thought, "You know, this software from Acme is filling the niche well. There's no reason for us to go into that segment" never occurs to them. Let alone, "You know, we've wrestled with standards and security and perhaps we should exit the browser market given the great alternatives out there." They want it all and they want it now.

  4. Re:fix schmix by taskforce · · Score: 4, Informative

    This was with reference to CSS standards and web development, not exploitable vulnerabilities in the browser's security.

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  5. Re:Face it. by someonewhois · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Well, there's a typical anti-Microsoft remark. The only thing it's missing is the dollar sign on the S.

    Let's go over a few logical fundamentals:
    • Firefox doesn't pass the Acid2 test either. Neither does Opera. That's virtually an irrelevant point at the curernt time.
    • Bill Gates isn't the one coding the browser.
    • The browser wars were like the cold war. It kept both sides trying to get the upper edge on each other in any possible way. As a result, you get garbage output.
    • Microsoft is clearly saying they're working on standards, and they ARE.
    • At the time that the codebase of IE was starting, the w3 standards weren't as hyped as they were today. As a result, it's no surprise that Microsoft didn't listen to them.
    • Name one piece of software that doesn't crash. I know I've had all sorts of non-Microsoft software crash.

    Your post should be marked as a troll. You haven't got a clue what you're talking about.
  6. Re:Firefox is compliant? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Konqueror, I believe, passes ACID2. Safari does in CVS, but the release version doesn't. Not sure about Opera.

    To be honest, ACID2 isn't that important - it tests some extreme corner cases in CSS usage. If you are 100% CSS compliant then it should work, but if you are 80% compliant then there are more important things to implement than passing ACID2.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  7. Re:Bash by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Interesting
    First, look at the Acid2 test as rendered by Firefox. It's got a few problems, but if you compare it to the prerendered picture for comparison you can see a few similarities. At least the overall shape is generally correct.

    Now, open IE up and look at the Acid2 test. IE completely fucks it up beyond recognition. I could render the picture better by shitting out paint.

    I'm curious to know how other browsers like Opera and Safari handle the Acid2 test. Are there technically any browsers out there that can pass it?

  8. Mod parent up. by merreborn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... I was waiting for someone to point out the fact that no real browsers pass acid2. And lord knows firefox not only crashes on me once every week or two, and chews up ungodly ammounts of ram, and doesn't garbage collect in a timely manner.

  9. Thank You Firefox! by blueZhift · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Thank you Firefox! Without competitive pressure from Firefox, I doubt that we would be seeing such effort to fix longstanding issues with Internet Explorer. IE 7 won't be perfect, but it will likely be a lot better than it would have been if the Mozilla project and Firefox had never existed. I suppose in some small way this is a bit of revenge from the grave for Netscape.

  10. Re:Bash by BackInIraq · · Score: 4, Informative

    Funny how quickly the MS bashing begins, yet when I just tried the Acid2 test with Firefox (my browser of choice btw), the results were far from impressive. And correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know Acid2 isn't an officially accepted standard, it's a *proposed* standard.

    Acid2 is a test of the CSS standard, not the standard itself. And no, Firefox doesn't pass. But the Firefox team has made it a goal TO pass, unlike the IE team which has apparently said, "screw it, we're not going to waste our time just to pass that." IE is shooting for "good enough."

    Considering the amount of money Microsoft could theoretically pump into development on the next version of IE, wouldn't it make more sense for them to be the first to pass the test (and by doing so provide implied compliance with the standard)?

  11. Re:just give up by baadger · · Score: 4, Informative
    Not trying to be an Opera zealot but I think those interested should take a quick peak at how Opera is fairing behind the scenes.

    Opera Acid2 as of today and the forum post accompanying the attachment:

    "Opera's developers have been working hard on getting the Acid2 test right. Most of the work is being done on a new branch of the core Opera code. This code branch is not ready for public consumption yet. So rejoice to see the progress, but don't expect to see this coming to a computer near you in the near future.
    I will explain some of the fixes done so far over the next couple of weeks. Note that regression testing is still being done, and some fixes might have to be reverted if it turns out important sites rely on the old behavior."
    Good news for Opera users.
  12. List of bugs to be fixed in IE7 (beta2) by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Informative
    from TFA:

    Though you won't see (most of) these until Beta 2, we have already fixed the following bugs from PositionIsEverything and Quirksmode:

            * Peekaboo bug
            * Guillotine bug
            * Duplicate Character bug
            * Border Chaos
            * No Scroll bug
            * 3 Pixel Text Jog
            * Magic Creeping Text bug
            * Bottom Margin bug on Hover
            * Losing the ability to highlight text under the top border
            * IE/Win Line-height bug
            * Double Float Margin Bug
            * Quirky Percentages in IE
            * Duplicate indent
            * Moving viewport scrollbar outside HTML borders
            * 1 px border style
            * Disappearing List-background
            * Fix width:auto

    In addition we've added support for the following

            * HTML 4.01 ABBR tag
            * Improved (though not yet perfect) fallback
            * CSS 2.1 Selector support (child, adjacent, attribute, first-child etc.)
            * CSS 2.1 Fixed positioning
            * Alpha channel in PNG images
            * Fix :hover on all elements
            * Background-attachment: fixed on all elements not just body
    (/snip)

    So I think that sums most of 'em.

    And look, if IE6 fails miserably the ACID2 test, i'm really hoping we'll see a yellow blurb at least in IE7 (right now it's like a red wall with some pieces of slaughtered yellow-face in there).

    In firefox we don't see the face, but at least we can see a nice yellow thing with wierd not-intended-to-be sunglasses on... kinda.

    So I'm quite curious how the ACID2 will render in IE7...
  13. Re:Someone Please Explain This by keot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the about page of the Acid2 browser test site:-
    Note: some 827 people (rough estimate, contents may have settled during shipping) have written to point out that the CSS used in the test is invalid. This is deliberate, as a means of exposing the ability of user agents to handle invalid CSS properly.

  14. This is why I don't use box model "hacks"... by venomkid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is why I never used things like the box model "hack" or any other browser bug-dependent CSS for cross browser compatibility. It's begging to have the site start blowing up in users' faces as soon as a new browser is released.

    Even the terrible implementation of CSS in IE6 is usable enough to make sites to standard. Sure it requires a bit of cheesiness, but I'd rather do that than *depend* on their browser continuing to not only have bugs, but to react to those bugs the same in every new release.

    There is a middle "standard".

    --
    vk.
  15. freedom to innovate by pjrc · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Ok, they're making progress. But did anyone notice what's "innovative"?
    but innovative stuff like the anti-phishing work and low-rights IE.

    Using any other browser would be running all that browser code without admin privs. Yeah, they're making a "broker" that handles all the system interface. Pretty much the architecture most unix-based server programs have been using for years. Except at the client/browser level it's unnecessary... unless you're building on previous poor design decisions.

    The anti-phishing... yet another thing others have already been doing quite well for quite a while.

    It's plainly obvious they're playing catch-up on many fronts. That alone isn't a reason to bash them, as least as far as I'm concerned. But calling "innovative" the features that have been implemented for over a year or more in other browsers or as third party add-ons is pretty cheap.

    Or did I miss some new features, anything really, that's truely innovative in IE7, rather than just implementing features already available from competitors and third parties?

  16. Re:A Feature Request by TravisWatkins · · Score: 4, Funny

    From the look of it you don't code at all.

    <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0">

    --

    "But I'm still right here, giving blood and keeping faith. And I'm still right here."